The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 26, 2024

Single-Edged Knife (Scramasax)

Single-Edged Knife (Scramasax)

600s

Did You Know?

Scramasax come in a variety of sizes and are all-purpose tools and weapons often carried by both men and women.

Description

The scramasax, a single-edged knife, was a general purpose implement. It could serve equally well as a tool or as a weapon and generally did not exceed 12 inches in length. As with most objects of the Migration period, iron weapons survive as excavated grave goods and tend to be heavily corroded. The grips, now missing, were probably fashioned from wood or bone and silver inlay decorated the pommels (the knob on the hilt, or handle). The ornamental gold foil bands, perhaps from the original scabbards (the cases in which the blades of swords or daggers are kept) have survived relatively intact.
  • ?-1919
    (Paul Mallon, Paris, France, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art).
    1919-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: The Museum, 1998. p. 37
    Effros, Bonnie, "Art of the 'Dark Ages:' Showing Merovingian artifacts in North American public and private collections." Journal of the History of Collections vol. 17 no. I (2005). 85-113, fig. 17
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms & Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. p. 47
  • {{cite web|title=Single-Edged Knife (Scramasax)|url=false|author=|year=600s|access-date=26 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1919.1015